Does Food Aid Harm the Poor? Household Evidence from Ethiopia / James Levinsohn, Margaret McMillan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levinsohn, James, 1958-

Contributor:

McMillan, Margaret Stokes.

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w11048.

NBER working paper series no. w11048

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2005.

Summary:

This paper uses household-level data from Ethiopia to investigate the impact of food aid on the poor. We find that food aid in Ethiopia is "pro-poor." Our results indicate that (i) net buyers of wheat are poorer than net sellers of wheat, (ii) there are more buyers of wheat than sellers of wheat at all levels of income, (iii) the proportion of net sellers is increasing in living standards and (iv) net benefit ratios are higher for poorer households indicating that poorer households benefit proportionately more from a drop in the price of wheat. In light of this evidence, it appears that households at all levels of income benefit from food aid and that - somewhat surprisingly - the benefits go disproportionately to the poorest households.

Notes:

January 2005.

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